England batsman Andrew Strauss on Thursday labelled the Kensington Oval wicket as the 'strangest' he has ever played on but believes that will be an advantage when they face South Africa in their next crucial World Cup clash.

Strauss scored 23 before he was trapped leg-before by Bangladesh paceman Syed Rasel during England's unimpressive four-wicket win over the Asian side on Wednesday.

They now take on South Africa and the West Indies with their semi-finals destiny in their own hands.

England haven't reached the last four since 1992.

"I think we have learnt a lot about how to win on that wicket now which is going to be a pretty big advantage for us to have going into that South Africa game," said Strauss of the April 17 match here.

"It was very quick and had bounce early on and then it was pretty skiddy and low and a bit two-paced at the back end. It was one of the strangest wickets I've ever played on.

"We know we have to win both games to reach the last four. We've made it hard for ourselves. We haven't really fired as a batting unit if we are honest.

"But even when we haven't played our best we have shown glimpses that we can beat anyone."

Strauss had an unimpressive tour of Australia earlier this year and had to sit out the group matches here, only replacing Ed Joyce in the Super Eights defeat against Australia.

"It's always a bit tricky to come into the side having not played cricket for a while. But having had some time out and sitting on the sidelines for a while I feel mentally fresh," said Strauss, who made seven against Australia and 23 against Bangladesh.

"I'm really excited about these games to come. I really feel personally I have got a couple of big scores in me.

"When we take to the field against South Africa we'll be four victories away from winning the World Cup and that's what we've got to look towards," said Strauss.

"We can almost play with a bit more freedom in those games because we're in that situation and it's quite an exciting time - it's the business end of the World Cup and this is what we play for.